Hexagram 38: Opposition → Hexagram 18: Work on the Decayed

Opposition
Fire / Lake
Work on the Decayed
Mountain / Wind
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 4).

Line 1

初九 悔亡。喪馬勿逐自復。見惡人。无咎。

huǐregret(s)
wángpass
sàng(a
horse
do not
zhú(be) pursue
(and) of
(it) returns
jiàn(to
è(the) evil
rén(in) people
is not
jiùto blame

Nine at the beginning means: Remorse disappears. If you lose your horse, do not run after it; It will come back of its own accord. When you see evil people, Guard yourself against mistakes.

Line 3

六三 見輿曳。其牛掣。其人天且劓。无初有終。

jiànseeing
輿(a
(being) held up
its
niúoxen
chèhindered
its
rénoccupant's
tiānhead shaved (bald to heaven)
qiěand (even
(his
regardless of
chū(a
yǒu(but) there is
zhōng(a

Six in the third place means: One sees the wagon dragged back, The oxen halted, A man's hair and nose cut off. Not a good beginning, but a good end.

Line 4

九四 睽孤。遇元夫。交孚。厲无咎。

kuíestranged
(and) (all) alone
meet
yuán(a
(gentle)man
jiāoexchange
(in
(the) difficulty
(is) not
jiù(a) wrong(ness)

Nine in the fourth place means: Isolated through opposition, One meets a like-minded man With whom one can associate in good faith. Despite the danger, no blame.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramFire MountainThe Clinging → Keeping Still
Lower TrigramLake WindThe Joyous → The Gentle

Yilin Verse

三班六黑,同室共食。日長月息,我家有德。

Three clans and six households; sharing a single room and common meals. As days lengthen and months pass; our family possesses virtue.

— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE

Commentary

Fire above the lake, estranged forces, yet within the household harmony prevails. Three shifts and six watches share the same room and eat together — a vision of orderly communal life where different schedules and duties coexist under one roof. As days lengthen and months wax, the family accumulates virtue. The 'three shifts, six darknesses' suggests a well-organized household or garrison where rotation ensures continuous function without friction. From Opposition to Work on the Decayed, wind stirs beneath the mountain, renewing what has stagnated. The transformation reveals that the antidote to estrangement is not grand reconciliation but the steady daily practice of sharing meals and maintaining routine — the patient rehabilitation of what has decayed through sustained cohabitation.

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